OBITUARY: Dr. John L. Grisby Passes
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It is with great sadness that AOC announces the passing of Dr. John L. Grigsby, Wild Weasel #231, who died March 12. A memorial service is planned for 1:30 p.m. on April 28 at the Los Altos United Methodist Church, 655 Magdalena Ave., Los Altos, CA. For those who knew and worked with him, no further recognition of his greatness is needed. For others who wish to know more about his contributions to our industry, here is a brief bio.
Background of Dr. John’s involvement in the birth of the RWR Industry.
Before WWII, John had become a ham radio operator (W9PJM) in Colorado. This experience was to help him later while employed by GE Syracuse NY before moving to California in 1952. He later joined a start-up company formed by Dr. Bill Ayers and other Stanford engineering grads counseled by the legendary Dr. Fred Terman in Palo Alto, CA. in 1959, John was "Badge 13" working as an electrical engineer. The company was building active EW countermeasures (repeater jammers in the C and X bands) and receivers for signal intercept and monitoring, while doing some commercial assembly work from HP and IBM to help make ends meet when DoD business was thin. They were also investing what funds they could spare into an IR&D program to develop advanced microwave receivers for airborne applications. While working for ATI, John also attended classes at Stanford University, earning his M.S.E.E. and Ph.D. degrees.
Early in 1965, Ed Chapman (who had been a B-52 EWO before joining ATI) and Mike Smith of the Falls Church office came up with an idea to replace the old AN/ASR-54 Tail Warning Receiver used in the B-52. ATI then directed its IR&D toward this prospect. One of the results was a revised signal processor and display unit to be called the "VECTOR-4," which indicated amplitude and relative bearing toward the target radar. This engineering activity was also briefed to Maj. Pierre Levy of the USAF during a visit to Palo Alto. Then, on July 10, 1965 when an unarmed RF-4C was shot down over North Vietnam by a surface-to-air missile, the USAF began to take a serious interest in defensive electronics for its aircraft. Brig. Gen. K.C. Dempster headed up a task force to develop requirements for such a system.
Later in July, Gen. Dempster, while flying back to D.C., called Ed Chapman in Virginia to tell him to meet his aircraft at Andrews AFB and talk with him about the "IR-100" receiver development as they drove to the Pentagon. Meanwhile, back in Palo Alto, the ATI Director of Engineering Bill Doyle had discovered a means by which certain signal characteristics could be detected that would indicate that a SAM had been launched against the aircraft. The IR-100 soon became the WR-300 and later the VECTOR-4, to be eventually nomenclatured by the Air Force the AN/APR-25. This culminated a short time after the famous utterance by Col. Jack Donovan of the phrase "YGBSM," which was to become the slogan of the Wild Weasel crew members. It was in November that the legendary "Polaroid Contract" was executed when Maj. Pierre Levy, and President Bill Ayer signed a priced list of deliverables on a blackboard in the basement of ATI. Ed took a picture to shortstop the time-consuming paperwork that would later be prepared during the rush to produce 500 new VECTOR systems at a fixed price of $6.7 million, and the nascent RWR industry was off and running. All of this in the span of less than five months, thanks to a thoughtful IR&D investment and the risk-taking management of the company (and the government). The full text of Dr. Grigsby’s detailed description of the "Wild Weasel Story: A Contractor’s View" is available by email upon request.
Dr. John became President of Applied Technology Division when the ATI was acquired by Itek Corp. in 1967. During subsequent acquisitions by Litton Industries and Northrop Grumman, John had retired as President of Advent Systems in Sunnyvale, CA, in 1993.
For the many of us who had known and worked with him, Dr. Grigsby was affectionately known as "Dr. John." He was not only an accomplished R.F. engineer and manager, but he was also a leader in our community of electronic warfare professionals, The International Association of Old Crows. Dr. John was active as a Regional Director for the AOC in 1983, was recognized by its Pioneer Award in 1984 and received its Life Achievement Award in 1995. He and his wife, Virginia, were both licensed pilots and accomplished vocalists, traveling widely both in the U.S. and around the world singing on tours with their choir.
Many an engineer, program manager and company executive have owed their occupation to the innovation and dedicated management skills for which Dr. John was known. He left a very large footprint on the lives of thousands and will be long remembered for the genuine friendship and professionalism that he brought to our EW community. He will be greatly missed by those fortunate to have known him.
Background of Dr. John’s involvement in the birth of the RWR Industry.
Before WWII, John had become a ham radio operator (W9PJM) in Colorado. This experience was to help him later while employed by GE Syracuse NY before moving to California in 1952. He later joined a start-up company formed by Dr. Bill Ayers and other Stanford engineering grads counseled by the legendary Dr. Fred Terman in Palo Alto, CA. in 1959, John was "Badge 13" working as an electrical engineer. The company was building active EW countermeasures (repeater jammers in the C and X bands) and receivers for signal intercept and monitoring, while doing some commercial assembly work from HP and IBM to help make ends meet when DoD business was thin. They were also investing what funds they could spare into an IR&D program to develop advanced microwave receivers for airborne applications. While working for ATI, John also attended classes at Stanford University, earning his M.S.E.E. and Ph.D. degrees.
Early in 1965, Ed Chapman (who had been a B-52 EWO before joining ATI) and Mike Smith of the Falls Church office came up with an idea to replace the old AN/ASR-54 Tail Warning Receiver used in the B-52. ATI then directed its IR&D toward this prospect. One of the results was a revised signal processor and display unit to be called the "VECTOR-4," which indicated amplitude and relative bearing toward the target radar. This engineering activity was also briefed to Maj. Pierre Levy of the USAF during a visit to Palo Alto. Then, on July 10, 1965 when an unarmed RF-4C was shot down over North Vietnam by a surface-to-air missile, the USAF began to take a serious interest in defensive electronics for its aircraft. Brig. Gen. K.C. Dempster headed up a task force to develop requirements for such a system.
Later in July, Gen. Dempster, while flying back to D.C., called Ed Chapman in Virginia to tell him to meet his aircraft at Andrews AFB and talk with him about the "IR-100" receiver development as they drove to the Pentagon. Meanwhile, back in Palo Alto, the ATI Director of Engineering Bill Doyle had discovered a means by which certain signal characteristics could be detected that would indicate that a SAM had been launched against the aircraft. The IR-100 soon became the WR-300 and later the VECTOR-4, to be eventually nomenclatured by the Air Force the AN/APR-25. This culminated a short time after the famous utterance by Col. Jack Donovan of the phrase "YGBSM," which was to become the slogan of the Wild Weasel crew members. It was in November that the legendary "Polaroid Contract" was executed when Maj. Pierre Levy, and President Bill Ayer signed a priced list of deliverables on a blackboard in the basement of ATI. Ed took a picture to shortstop the time-consuming paperwork that would later be prepared during the rush to produce 500 new VECTOR systems at a fixed price of $6.7 million, and the nascent RWR industry was off and running. All of this in the span of less than five months, thanks to a thoughtful IR&D investment and the risk-taking management of the company (and the government). The full text of Dr. Grigsby’s detailed description of the "Wild Weasel Story: A Contractor’s View" is available by email upon request.
Dr. John became President of Applied Technology Division when the ATI was acquired by Itek Corp. in 1967. During subsequent acquisitions by Litton Industries and Northrop Grumman, John had retired as President of Advent Systems in Sunnyvale, CA, in 1993.
For the many of us who had known and worked with him, Dr. Grigsby was affectionately known as "Dr. John." He was not only an accomplished R.F. engineer and manager, but he was also a leader in our community of electronic warfare professionals, The International Association of Old Crows. Dr. John was active as a Regional Director for the AOC in 1983, was recognized by its Pioneer Award in 1984 and received its Life Achievement Award in 1995. He and his wife, Virginia, were both licensed pilots and accomplished vocalists, traveling widely both in the U.S. and around the world singing on tours with their choir.
Many an engineer, program manager and company executive have owed their occupation to the innovation and dedicated management skills for which Dr. John was known. He left a very large footprint on the lives of thousands and will be long remembered for the genuine friendship and professionalism that he brought to our EW community. He will be greatly missed by those fortunate to have known him.
